OpenAI Whistleblowers ask SEC to Investigate the company’s NDAs
By AP Staff
FILE - The OpenAI logo is seen on a mobile phone in front of a computer screen which displays output from ChatGPT, Tuesday, March 21, 2023, in Boston. Biden on Monday, Oct. 30, will sign a sweeping executive order to guide the development of artificial intelligence. The order will require industry to develop safety and security standards, introduce new consumer protections and give federal agencies an extensive to-do list to oversee the rapidly progressing technology. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer, File)
NEW YORK (AP) — OpenAI whistleblowers have filed a complaint with the Securities and Exchange Commission and asked the agency to investigate whether the ChatGPT maker illegally restricted workers from speaking out about the risks of its artificial intelligence technology.
A letter to SEC Chair Gary Gensler representing “one or more anonymous and confidential” whistleblowers asks the agency to swiftly and aggressively enforce its rules against non-disclosure agreements that discourage employees or investors from raising concerns with regulators.
The July 1 letter references a formal whistleblower complaint recently filed with the SEC. The Washington Post was the first to report on the letter.
U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley's office shared a copy of the letter with The Associated Press, noting it was provided to his office by legally protected whistleblowers.
“OpenAI’s policies and practices appear to cast a chilling effect on whistleblowers’ right to speak up and receive due compensation for their protected disclosures,” said Grassley, an Iowa Republican, in a written statement. "In order for the federal government to stay one step ahead of artificial intelligence, OpenAI’s nondisclosure agreements must change.”
OpenAI and the SEC didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment Monday.
Social media platform Reddit has sued the artificial intelligence company Anthropic, alleging that it is illegally “scraping” the comments of Reddit users to train its chatbot Claude.
President Donald Trump wants his “big, beautiful” bill of tax breaks and spending cuts on his desk to be singed into law by Independence Day. And he’s pushing the slow-rolling Senate to make it happen sooner rather than later. Trump met with Senate Majority Leader John Thune at the White House early this week and has been dialing senators for one-on-one chats, using both the carrot and stick to encourage them to act. But it’s still a long road ahead for the bill. Senators want to make changes to protect Medicaid and to make sure some tax breaks become permanent. Elon Musk called the whole bill a "disgusting abomination.”
